09/02/2024
Went to see the Reagan movie on a recent afternoon and was surprised, not only by the film but by the
experience and emotion. Not by what I saw on screen. What struck me was the reality of America.
Something we tend not to talk about currently. Waves of positive emotions we should feel about our
country and accomplishments, are many times replaced, by focusing on historical wrongs. Watching the
film, more than the movie itself, reminded me that America still has a heart and soul.
Got to the theater about ten minutes early like we all do. Leaving time to buy overpriced snacks. Making
moments to view previews of flicks very few of us will ever go to. Reality is. in this era of streaming and
digital accessibility very few even go to the actual theater anymore. No one does. There are few hits
here and there but most of the time the release is simply a quick placeholder, so it can be seen three
years later, when bored at home. Get there late because who cares? The seating map generally looks
like open season. Even if they say the seat is booked, it’s not.
To my shock there were only a few seats left out of a couple hundred. Quizzed the seller, and asked if
they were sending us to the right theater in the multiplex. Had the new Beetlejuice come out a week
early? Was there a celebrity there? Most folks did realize that no one named Reagan was going to be
there, right? Figured would just get the assigned seat way up front and then as usual sit wherever I like.
Last time you saw an usher checking to see if you were in the right movie or seats, well Reagan was still
president.
Walking in, was amazed, shocked and surprised. The theater was packed and packed early. Not for the
drama of the experience, not to see an Oscar winning film, not because they were reporters or pundits
that had to see it as part of their day job.
Here was a film about a man that had not been in office for 35 years. Had died over twenty years ago. A
story that everyone knows. No dramatic twists here.
They were there because they cared. That simple.
Moving to the front of the place sitting in the assigned seat, since really had no choice settled in for,
what I thought was going to be an average experience. Knew the reviews. Know the story and like most
of us. figured to be checking the clock as already knew the length. Everything today comes with the
pause button and the quick sound bite so two hours plus is a long experience to sit though, even for a
good meal or your favorite band. Especially when you know how it ends. Looking around in the dark
could see no faces. Listening to the crowd as it played, no gasps to special effects, or amazing stunts.
Not here to give a review, not that smart. Had good actors, guess good lighting and let’s face it the
costumes are clothing from the eighties and before. Not hard to do. What struck me more was what was
going on inside me.
Reagan faced our biggest enemy, the U.S.S.R eye to eye. Opened a dialog with them, while never
wavering from what he and Americans stand for. Understood how we have a better system and wasn’t
going to back down. Took a leadership stance that is missing from politics today. Like most in the theater
was barely aware, at the time of what he was doing as California Governor. When he was President
however very cognizant the threat U.S.S.R and socialism presented. When in the film, (and from
memories) he stands atop the Berin wall and exclaims “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” my heart
moved. Some other places in the film hit me, but this one struck me hard.
I have been to Berlin, a little over a decade after the wall fell. Watching the amazing march of progress
as capitalism started to rapidly move from literally the wall into what was East Berlin. Where the
modernization of construction and life was uniting a city. The deeper you got in into what was the East
you could see the scars of a failed system. Delipidated dark and old buildings. Crusty socialist
infrastructure from a failed system. It was painfully obvious that the economic system of the U.S.S.R.
had failed. The evidence was what you saw. What had been rebuilt from the war was built badly by the
communists.
Went all over East Germany around the same time. The countryside was beautiful. Many quaint homes
and wonderful churches.
Still, what struck me were the people. That’s where scars of socialism were most reflected. Many had
just been granted freedom a little over a decade before. Most had grown up under communist rule,
“relieved” of being able to make decisions that drove the direction of life. The government did it for
them. Now that they had freedom, they seemed lost. Not sure what to do with it. Happy to have it. Glad
to be able to speak out about how they felt, but robbed, in just a little over forty years of the
understanding of what freedom is. They recovered. An open society cures over time but the time it
takes to do it should be a warning to us all.
This moment. of Reagan standing atop the wall in the movie, brought the power of that warning home
to me. It was 1987. 42 years after the end of WW2. (Here we are 37 years later).
Now the United States on our turf is battling a war between the socialist forces from within. In Reagan
you are reminded of how the goal of socialists is to pe*****te our society from the inside out
Also, a reminder of the void in leadership today. Leaders who are unwilling to stand up for our SYSTEM.
Someone willing to fight for that, regardless of the cost of popularity or personal sacrifice. Only one
comes to mind.
Donald Trump.
Ronald Reagan was not perfect, that shows when you watch. Probably the greatest President of my
lifetime without a doubt. Donald Trump is not perfect, but he’s the one who will fight for what most of
us of do believe in, regardless of partisan politics. Battles are over policies, but the war is really about
freedom versus socialism. The real lessons are that 42 years and 37 years are not that long. About a
generation. Sound familiar?
Reagan the movie is not perfect. At the end, however, the audience broke out in applause.
Because they care. More about what it represents in their lives than what was on the screen.
Make sure you represent yourself at the polls wisely, this election season.
Give applause to the U.S.A
Vote for America and go see this.
PS get tickets early.
